


Testimony

by Aeroblitz



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 19:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13770915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeroblitz/pseuds/Aeroblitz
Summary: “They say I’m a traitor. Maybe I am. All I know is that I did what I had to do.”On a post-war Cybertron, Megatron is held on trial by the new government for war crimes. This is Starscream’s testimony.





	Testimony

“My name is Starscream. I am a Seeker. More specifically I was the Air Commander of the Decepticon Forces.

I used to lead my people with precision and grace. I was elegance itself in the sky.

I conquered worlds. Some of them the ones I had discovered with my partner long ago. My battle plans were rarely flawed, and my weapon designs always performed to their greatest potential.

To put it simply I was respected. Beloved and admired by all. To my people I could make no mistakes, I was perfect. The shiniest penny in their eyes, and one that could never be dulled.

That changed. 

They say I’m a traitor. Maybe I am. All I know is that I did what I had to do.

It was a sunny day, and like many others I was too late to see the signs of an incoming disaster.

We had all worshipped Megatron. The ground he stood on was sacred, the words he spoke the scripture. He, a mere gladiator at the time, did what many of us would not have dared to do. He proclaimed the crimes of the Council, openly opposed, proudly challenging them. He lead the lower-classes under one unified banner, a near impossible feat, and yet he did it.

Together he spurred us on. Making us believe that we should have the same rights, that we were not beneath the others in society. He groomed us to be supposedly better, so we could prove to the Council we were more than what our frame was.

It was supposed to be a peaceful movement, but that hungry glint in his optics, that sly, prideful smirk… I should have known he wanted a war. It was like a game of chess, him against the council, and we just happened to be the pawns.

We accepted it at first. Embraced it, actually. For once we could be the top dogs, and send retribution back at our oppressors. It should have stopped there. Ceased when a new council of high and low class members alike rose to power.

It didn’t. That hunger for power, in Megatron, didn’t stop; if anything it grew. And I was blind to it. 

By then I had worked my way up to the position of Second in Command. The right hand mech of a tyrant who I would gladly die for.

It’s hard to believe I was once that naïve, so trusting in things that I should have seen for what they were.

Our attacks became bigger and bolder, and along that way, Megatron lost sight of his original goal. Bringing freedom and equality to all Cybertronians, in its place, he gave us an unending civil war that would stretch across the galaxy and beyond.

If I had caught the change before, if had noticed the warnings for what they were perhaps the outcome would have been better. Alas, that would be my one true failure, contrary to what anyone else might say.

Like I said it was a sunny day. Bright and beautiful, a day where nothing should have gone wrong. I had completed my patrol and was in the rec room with my Trine when the announcement came in.

‘Starscream! Command Center now!’ Came the urgent, impatient voice of Megatron through the ship’s intercom.

Of course, I left immediately. It was my duty, but I couldn’t help that sinking feeling of dread. I knew something was different, and in all the wrong ways. I had never been summoned in such a rude manner before. 

I went anyway. During this time, I was still considered amongst the most loyal to the Decepticon cause, and by default Megatron, himself. I knew that everyone had their bad days, and Megatron was entitled to his. I assumed that something had happened in battle or an accident occurred to one of our bases or mines. If I had known then what I know now, I never would have gone to the Command Center that day. In fact, I would have ran, very fast, in the other direction.

When I got to the Command Center, I was expecting something, anything else as the reason for my summoning. Dark Energon, a the stuff from a legend, sat in a crate at Megatron’s pedes.

His biolights and optics were purple instead of their usual blood red. That’s when it all went downhill. I had the option to still run away at this time but my curiosity superseded common sense.

I trotted over to him, my wings raised high and surprised at the sight. ‘My Lord, is that what I think it is?’ I asked, the scientist in me eager to find the answers.

He looked down at me, a sinister smile on his faceplates, ‘Indeed, my dear Starscream. Behold Dark Energon, the blood of Unicron!’

Vorns later, and I still don’t know what I must have did to receive what happened next. Maybe he saw something, perhaps I flicked my wings in the wrong manner or muttered something under my breath. I’m not sure… 

In any case, the next thing I knew I was sprawled across the floor being yelled at. Megatron loomed over me, having just struck me across the face plates.

I… I was never hit before. In fact, it was rare we had even got into an argument, at that time, and it was never a physical one. That blow would be the first of many. I was too cowed to react at first, setting all the blame on myself.

Over time our physical alterations became more severe, and, desperate for a respite, I lashed out. I told him how the cause was growing more unstable, how we couldn’t continue with what he was doing.

He didn’t listen and I got my first taste of the fusion cannon, I once created for him.

And that’s when I finally opened my optics to reality. He wouldn’t ever stop. Even as Cybertron laid in ruin, even if it meant using brute force to… persuade the army to carry on with this madness, he would do it. It didn’t matter that we had lost our friends and family, either to the Matrix; or forever to the stars...

Megatron has lost his way. And now I could see it. Not the why nor the how… or when… or where, but I knew he had changed, and he wasn’t going to come back.

It was then that I made my biggest sacrifice to the cause. I would risk my own body, my own pride, my own feelings, and emotions, and honor to right the wrongs Megatron supplied. The war he had so gallantly started was going to end; with or without him.

Killing him became my goal. There was no other option. Optimus Prime, still tried to reason to with him, an impossible feat, but one I give kudos to him nonetheless. For me, there was nothing else I could have done.

It became the normal. Go to battle, get assaulted, rebel, get thrown in the brig, scheme, and attempt an assassination. Get punished again, plan attack, go to battle, and the cycle continued.

I admit for a time, even I lost track of what I was truly trying to do. It wasn’t until our arrival on the planet earth that I regained my original drive.

Once we started attacking the humans, not because we needed to but just because we did, I knew we had to stop. Wasting the energy we were trying to gain on attacking beings that were innocent and defenseless to our war was a new low.

That’s when I did what I did. Beforehand my personal issues with Megatron were just that. Personal. I set the fine line between being treacherous and traitorous very clearly. The day I crossed it would be both the best orn and the most painful one of my life.

I approached the Autobots. Soundwave helped me set up a secret communication to them. He had seen the madness in Megatron too.

I gave them the information they needed to finally win. The location of the mines, security codes, battle plans, troop records. I gave it all, and I regret none of it.

Soon the tides of the war began to change. I continued to supply the Autobots with information. I wanted this war to end as much as they did.

I’m not sure whether Megatron knew about my involvement with why we were suddenly losing the war or if he just wanted a scapegoat. Either way I got the punishments, each one more severe than the last. 

That ended a few years later. Somehow, the information I gave to the Autobots payed off. My gambles, my suffering and sacrifices, were finally enough. They were able to capture Megatron on the battlefield.

The rest brings us to today. The Trial of the Gladiator of Tarn. Leader of the Decepticons. Today, he will be either found guilty of war crimes or innocent of all charges.

My designation is Starscream. This is my story. And I may not have always been in the right, but I did what I had to do. I made my choice. Now it rest in your hands. Decide. And do what we could not. Deal justice the way it was meant to be served.”

There was a brief moment of hesitation, silence having overcome the vast chamber at the Seeker’s testimony. The bots who had been arguing for joors on the state of affairs regarding the trial seemed content to utter not a sound.

The defense offered no words of praise. There was no more questions coming from the prosecution. The neutrals and ex-soldiers sitting in on the trial, who had eagerly commented on the other witness testimonies remained stock still, having hung on edge of what many had referred to as the flyer’s greatest weapon.

As for Starscream himself, it seemed the Seeker wasn’t as content to wallow in the silence. He stood up, and without asking for the proper permission excused himself from the stand.

Right as he was about to leave the chamber, Starscream turned around and mutter something that sounded like a ‘thank you.’ However, despite the silence it was too soft-spoken to be fully deciphered. 

Before anyone could stop him, Starscream pivoted sharply on his heel, and strode out of the room. His thrusters provided a steady clacking sound, echoing in the chamber as he departed. Soon the sounds faded off as the Seeker disappeared from view.


End file.
